A Woman of Honour

Chapter 20

Nearly a week had passed since she had seen Ralph at the theatre, and Helen was beginning to feel that she was, at last, making a little progress in finding the identity of the elusive Le Renard. Even though Lavorel did not bring many personal documents to the suite they shared, she had managed to coax some information out of him. She had discovered that not only was Le Renard in London, but he was also a member of the ton and held a prominent position within the ruling elite. She had relayed all the information she had gathered to Haverstock during her weekly meeting with him, which took place in the fitting-room at her modiste on Bond Street.

Even though she felt like she had made some progress identifying Le Renard, she needed to step up her search. Over the past week, she had become more aware of her pregnancy. Not only had she become nauseous in the morning, the dresses she had commissioned for herself in Paris, were starting to get tight. Even Haverstock had made a comment about it when he had met her earlier that morning. However, it was not just the baby that was bothering her, she was beginning to become suspicious that Lavorel was misleading her. She had always known that he was a jealous man, but there was something about his behaviour that she found disconcerting.

She had known, from the beginning, that Lavorel was having her followed. However, she was also beginning to suspect that he was feeding her carefully selected information. The documents he had brought to their suite, always referred to Le Renard. And, he had placed them in a draw in his desk so that they could be easily found. All the information he revealed to her, had whetted Haverstock's appetite and had left him wanting more. However, she was now beginning to realise the Lavorel had been clever. He had actually revealed to her very little about Le Renard and the organisation to which he belonged that Haverstock did not already know.

Today, after her appointment at her modist, Lavorel had suggested that she should go shopping in Bond Street. He was busy all day at the embassy, and he had given her carte blanche to spend his money on whatever took her fancy. It was a crisp and cold autumn day. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, but there was little warmth in its rays. Deveraux, who was acting as her footman, followed closely behind.

As she walked down the busy road, she looked half-heartedly into the shop windows. In the window of a milliner's shop, she saw a beautiful display of leather kid gloves. She had to purchase something, she thought to herself; otherwise, Lavorel would become suspicious.

She walked into the shop, and immediately an assistant was waiting to attend to her. When the infamous Countess de Aquileia bought anything from your shop, word would soon get around, and the item would be sold out within days.

Helen pointed to a pair of scarlet gloves made from the softest, most supple leather and tried them on. As she put them on, she heard the bell above the shop door tinkle delicately. She turned around to see who had come into the shop.

'Helen,' the young woman said, as she smiled at her from the entrance, 'what a lovely surprise. I did not know you were in London. After you...'

Before Alice could say anything else, Helen walked over to her. 'Alice, my dear,' she said, as she kissed her on the cheek. 'Don't say anything about me,' she whispered cryptically in her ear.

Alice smiled and nodded. 'Those are beautiful gloves,' she said, taking Helen's hands in hers, 'I wonder if they have them in blue.'

Helen spent the rest of the morning shopping with Alice. She was grateful that Alice had played her part to perfection and had not revealed any information about her that could be overheard.

'My dear,' Alice said, after a couple of hours, 'I'm starving. Let's go back to my house and have lunch, just the two of us.'

Helen nodded. 'That sounds wonderful.' Whoever was following her would not be able to come into the house, and it would be the perfect opportunity to speak to Alice alone.